Short-term cultures were initiated from 20 carcinomas of the pancreas, 17 of which could be successfully cytogenetically analyzed. In eight carcinomas, only normal karyotypes were detected, probably representing dividing stromal cells. Three cases had -Y as the sole anomaly, which also may have occurred in cells that do not belong to the tumor parenchyma. Massively rearranged karyotypes with modal chromosome numbers in the triploid (five cases) and diploid-triploid (one case) ranges were found in the remaining six carcinomas. Structural rearrangements, including deletions and unbalanced translocations, of the long arm of chromosome 6, involving bands q13 and q15 twice and q11 and q16 once, occurred in four tumors. All of these aberrations led to loss of chromosome material from 6q, always involving 6q15. Deletions and unbalanced translocations of the short arm of chromosome 1 also were found in four cases, affecting band p32 in three of them. In all four cases, the abnormalities resulted in loss of genetic material distal to 1p32. Chromosome 17 was involved in structural aberrations in three cases, twice as unbalanced translocations leading to loss of 17p material. Deletions of the short arms of chromosomes 3 and 8 were detected in two carcinomas. The most consistent numerical abnormalities were +2, +10, +11, +14, and tetrasomy 20, which were seen in all six cases. The findings suggest that structural rearrangements, or loss, of genes located on 1p, 3p, 6q, 8p, and 17p are of pathogenetic importance in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Intrauterine and intrapartum transmission of HIV.

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Female↗

PubMed1992

Trisomy 2 as the sole chromosomal abnormality in a hepatoblastoma.

Short-term cultures of a fine-needle aspirate from a hepatoblastoma were analyzed cytogenetically. Trisomy 2 was found as the sole abnormality, yielding the karyotype 47,XY, + 2/46,XY. Because trisomy for all or part of chromosome 2 has been described, although together with other aberrations, in seven of the 11 hepatoblastomas hitherto reported, the finding of + 2 as the only anomaly in the present case strongly indicates that additional chromosome 2 material is of pathogenetic significance in this tumor type.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

PubMed1992

Detection of enteroviral RNA by polymerase chain reaction in faecal samples from patients with aseptic meningitis.

An assay based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of enteroviral RNA in stool samples was carried out using specimens from 74 patients with aseptic meningitis. The primer pair and probe were derived from the highly conserved 5' non-coding enterovirus genomic region. Enteroviral RNA was detected in faeces of all 36 patients in whom an enterovirus was isolated from stool. The PCR assay yielded positive results in additionally 3/6 cases where enterovirus diagnoses were obtained by virus isolation from cerebrospinal fluid and/or serological tests. Thus, the positive outcome of the PCR assay was 39 (93%) among the 42 patients with enterovirus diagnoses. Furthermore, 7/19 (37%) cases with an etiology that was not established by other means were positive in the test indicating that the PCR assay may give considerable additional etiological information in patients with aseptic meningitis. The limit of RNA detectability in the PCR assay was about 100 TCID50 when highly cytopathogenic enterovirus types (coxsackievirus type B5 and echovirus type 11) were tested. The PCR was negative in all 13 patients with non-enterovirus diagnoses except in one case with a herpes simplex virus type 2 infection. Since enterovirus-specific IgM antibodies could be detected in this case a dual infection seemed probable. All the negative controls, included in the study, were PCR-negative and no contamination was encountered. This study proves the usefulness of the PCR assay for detection of enteroviral RNA in stool samples and suggests that the test may be an alternative to virus isolation for rapid enterovirus diagnosis in patients with aseptic meningitis.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Preliminary results of intraoperative excimer laser angioplasty: phase 1: an adjunct to coronary artery bypass surgery.

The excimer laser underwent phase I clinical trials at three centers to determine its safety for intraoperative coronary laser angioplasty as an adjunct to coronary artery bypass grafting. A 308-nm Xenon-Chloride, pulsed-wave excimer laser was used to perform angioplasty in 30 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. Forty vessels (30 patients) were treated, in which the extent of occlusion ranged from 30% to 100%, with complete occlusion in 40% of all vessels. Improvement in vessel luminal caliber was achieved in 33 (79%) vessels, with perforations occurring in 4 (12%) vessels, 2 of which required surgical repair. The lumens of the remaining 8 (19%) vessels were not enlarged, and 2 (5%) of these vessels were perforated. Luminal enlargement was most often achieved in totalled occluded vessels in which 16/17 (94%) were recanalized. No patients died within 30 days postoperatively. Five patients demonstrated biochemical and electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial injury 48 hr postoperatively, and one patient died of cardiac arrest 139 days postoperatively. On the basis of these results, we believe that excimer laser angioplasty can be performed safely to improve coronary luminal patency, even in totally occluded vessels, in an operative setting. The long-term value of this procedure remains to be elucidated.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

The effect of spatial frequency and contrast on the latency in the visual evoked potential.

The latency in the visual evoked potential was measured at spatial frequencies of 2-12 c/deg in 10 subjects. The contrast levels of the sinuosoidal grating patterns were set at 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25, 2.5, 2.75 and 3.0 log units above each subject's contrast sensitivity threshold. Two factors were shown to influence the latency: suprathreshold contrast and, to a lesser extent, spatial frequency. The visual evoked potential latencies at contrast sensitivity threshold were extrapolated. These threshold latencies showed considerable variation with spatial frequency and between subjects. Therefore, the visual evoked potential latency cannot be considered a useful tool for estimating the contrast sensitivity function.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

The incidence of HPV in a Swedish series of invasive cervical carcinoma.

The incidence of HPV was studied in 71 invasive squamous carcinomas of the cervix using PCR technique. We used primers, which presumably recognize all types of HPV (consensus primers), and also type-specific primers. In situ hybridization was carried out in 24 of the cases. The overall incidence of HPV was 53/71 (75%) of which 5 cases were positive with the consensus primers only. However, 21/71 cases (30%) were negative for the consensus primers but positive for one of the type-specific primer pairs. This finding indicates that subgenomic deletions may have occurred in the viral genome upon integration in the human DNA. In situ hybridization was positive in 14/24 cases (58%), showing excellent correlation with PCR results. The HPV types detected were, in descending order of frequency: type 16 (52%), 31 (23%), 18 (13%), 33 (12%). No cases of HPV type 6 or 11 were found in this series of invasive carcinomas.

Biopsy↗

PubMed1992

Work environment functions in small enterprises in Sweden.

In Sweden, a governmental commission has formed new strategies concerning the work environment with the aims of reducing employee absenteeism and re-employing those individuals who have already left employment as a result of bad working conditions. The main features in this new approach are: strengthening of the legislation; a responsibility for work injury costs; and a distinct rehabilitation responsibility. In this paper the authors discuss how these proposals suited the constraints and facilities of small enterprises, employing less than 50 persons. The results are based on interviews carried out with company directors, safety representatives and labour inspectors. The interviews revealed that the company directors had a negative attitude towards both the strengthening of legislation and responsibility for work injury costs. It was also revealed that the small companies lack both knowledge of how a good environment can be created and the state of their own work environment. It seems that the small companies cannot handle work environment questions in a systematic way without comprehensive education and training or without seeking expert assistance outside the company.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1992

Recurrent chromosome aberrations in abdominal smooth muscle tumors.

Short-term cultures of four abdominal smooth muscle tumors, three leiomyosarcomas and one leiomyoma, were analyzed cytogenetically. A low-grade malignant, epithelioid leiomyosarcoma had a normal karyotype. The other two leiomyosarcomas had abnormal karyotypes; one was near-diploid, and the other was near-triploid. Structural rearrangements of the short arm of chromosome 16 and monosomies of chromosomes 14, 15, and 22 were observed in both tumors. When our cases and previously published abdominal leiomyosarcomas are viewed in conjunction, loss of chromosomes 14, 15, and 22 are the most frequent abnormalities. The leiomyoma, the second cytogenetically abnormal nonuterine leiomyoma reported to date, had a hyperdiploid karyotype with a chromosome number of 56 and structural rearrangements of chromosomes 9, 14, and 19. The only aberrations similar to those observed in the previously reported esophageal leiomyoma were trisomies of chromosomes 7 and 8.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗

PubMed1992

Cytogenetic findings in three primary hepatocellular carcinomas.

Short-term cultures of three primary hepatocellular carcinomas were cytogenetically analyzed. Case 1 displayed a normal karyotype. Case 2 had, in addition to cells with a normal male chromosome complement, a clone with -Y. In case 3, two abnormal clones were found, one with -Y and one with a highly aberrant karyotype: [formula: see text] Our results, collated with the findings in one previously published primary hepatocellular carcinoma and in three cell lines, suggest that structural changes of chromosomes 1 and 6, leading to loss of 1p and 6q material, and loss of chromosome 16 are frequent events in hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Adenosine-dopamine interactions in the brain.

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Adenosine↗

PubMed1992

Changes in cognitive functioning of the oldest old.

Cognitive changes during a 2-year interval in a representative sample of the oldest old were investigated. Respondents were 324 people aged 84 to 90 at baseline who were selected from census records in the Jönköping region of Sweden. Following a 2-year interval, it was possible to reinterview 213 people, or 94% of individuals, still alive. Performance on a battery of five cognitive tests showed a small decline in mean scores, and a 10% increase in the number of people meeting criteria for significant cognitive impairment. Respondents with better functioning at baseline tended to have stable performance over this period.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Increased serum CD8 soluble antigen level is associated with blood lymphocyte abnormalities and other established indicators of a poor prognosis in adult Hodgkin's disease.

Measurement of the soluble form of CD8 antigen (sCD8), a surface membrane component of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells, has yielded useful information relevant to prognosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and Hodgkin's disease (HD). An ELISA technique was used to measure the amount of sCD8 in sera from 123 adults with untreated HD. Significantly higher mean sCD8 levels were found in patients with advanced disease (stage III-IV; P less than 0.001), B-symptoms (P less than 0.001), male sex (P less than 0.05) and increased spontaneous and decreased Concanavalin A induced blood lymphocyte DNA-synthesis (P less than 0.05). Actuarial survival of patients with high sCD8 levels was significantly worse than that of the remainder (P less than 0.05). However, the sCD8 level did not add prognostic information to that achieved by age, sex, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) or clinical stage. A significant correlation between the sCD8 and LDH levels (r = 0.33; P less than 0.001) and inverse correlations between sCD8 levels and total blood CD4+ (r = -0.52; P less than 0.001) and CD3+ (r = -0.39; P less than 0.01) cell counts were found. Ten patients were also studied in complete remission, showing a significantly reduced sCD8 level in comparison to the pretreatment value (P less than 0.05). Increased sCD8 in HD may indicate enhanced suppressor T cell activity possibly compromising the host disease balance which could explain the association with prognosis.

Adult↗